Firearms with a double-barrel design are most commonly found in shotgun design and high power rifle design. Typically, these designs do not allow for any magazine storage or reloading mechanism, other than the magazine storage inherent in the two rounds of ammunition stored in the firing chambers. To reload these firearms, the hunter must lower the rifle from the firing position and manually open the firing chambers to eject the spent shells and reload the chamber with fresh cartridges. Since there is no reloading mechanism, the hunter must insert the fresh rounds of ammunition by hand and close the breech before being ready to fire again. As can be appreciated, this reloading procedure is not only time consuming, but may be inconvenient when hunting dangerous big game, especially if the hunter has missed or wounded the animal with the first two shots.
Accordingly, there is a need for a reloading mechanism for double-barrel design firearms. In the field of high-powered big-game firearms, there is the additional requirement that the action must be robust and strong enough to withstand the extremely large forces generated when a high calibre cartridge is fired. It is for this reason that traditional big game rifles have been of the double-barrel design. As is well known in the art, a double-barrel design is one of the most reliable and robust actions. Although, there is really no action to speak of beyond the manual breech break for loading.
In the prior art there is one patent, of which I am aware, that discloses a bolt action mechanism for a double-barrel rifle or shotgun. U.S. Pat. No. 830,370, which issued to J. L. Saget on Sep. 4, 1906, teaches a firearm of the double-barrel breech-loading type. The firearm has a pair of cylindrical breech bolts (one for each barrel) which move rectilinearly forwards and backwards. A cross-bar connects the cylindrical breech bolts together at their rear ends. The cross-bar assembly also includes a swinging locking member, i.e. bolt. The locking member or bolt prevents the breech bolts from moving rearwards when in the locked position. When the shells are fired, the shootist swings the bolt to the open position and pulls it rearward. This action causes a pair of shell extractors in the breech bolts to eject the spent shells. The breech bolts can then be reloaded and the bolt moved forward and into the locking position. This invention falls short in two respects. First, while providing a breech-loading action for a double-barrel firearm, the invention does not provide magazine storage for additional rounds of ammunition. Secondly, the bolt mechanism as taught by Saget is inadequate to withstand the forces generated by today's high-powered rifles.
As indicated, various types of double-barrel breech-loading actions have been proposed, yet to my knowledge, there is no double-barrel firearm having a bolt action design capable of withstanding high-calibre ammunition or having a magazine storage which facilitates quick reloading or repeating firing. Thus, for whatever reason, be it structural complexity or failure to withstand the immense internal forces, no one has yet devised a double-barrel bolt action for high-calibre firearms.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a robust, reliable and durable bolt-action assembly for a double-barrel firearm, such as a high-calibre rifle or a shotgun, that also allows for magazine storage of additional rounds of ammunition thereby providing a repeater capability.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a bolt-action for a double-barrel firearm which can be easily disassembled for field cleaning.
It is yet another object of the present invention to provide a bolt-action for a double-barrel firearm in which the bolt-action utilizes a rear-bolt movement.